1. Get Weird

Say it with me:

“Let’s. Get. Weird.”

Ok, don’t get too weird, (let’s not get ourselves sued), but a little weirdness is a-ok. In fact, it’s beneficial to your business.

How? By embracing the quirky, off-kilter aspects of your culture, you’ll lighten the mood in the office. The idea is to make things that people tend to dread – like meetings – more fun by doing something out of the ordinary.

Ideally, you want to do things that are both weird and authentic, meaning things that reflect the culture of the organization.

2. Take something boring – a weekly product meeting for instance – and make it extraordinary by injecting something unexpected into the agenda. Start the meeting with jumping jacks, or, like Michigan-based Menlo Innovations, require the speaker to wear a Viking Helmet.

3. Don’t force it! Do something that is authentically YOU.

2. Post-it note wars

In the last few years, DIY office supply expression has been elevated to a true artform, with increasingly complex designs.

The REAL fun begins when you inject some healthy competition into the mix. Recently, New York ad firms engaged in a very public Post-it art war, with each firm trying to one-up the other with large displays on the windows of their Canal Street offices. But it was Havas Worldwide who claimed victory with a massive mic drop. The display created buzz and lifted spirits around the city.

3. Express Gratitude

There’s a growing body of scientific research that points to the benefits of gratitude. These studies show that gratitude improves physical and psychological health, improves sleep, and lifts mood. The challenge for many companies is, how do you integrate gratitude into our work lives?

At SnackNation, it’s part of our culture. We hold a Friday afternoon “Crush-It Call,” during which each employee calls out a colleague for “Crushing It” (i.e. embodying one of the company values that week), and names one thing that they are grateful for. It allows us to reflect on the week’s accomplishments and gets the weekend started on a positive note.

Here’s what the Crush It Call looks like at SnackNation HQ:

For dispersed workforces, distance can make expressing gratitude a challenge, but David from employee feedback platform 15Five shares their company’s solution:

“We hold an all-hands video call three times per week. Since we are remote, this is a great way to keep people connected. On Mondays, before going over the numbers from the previous week, we share a gratitude for a particular topic.

Past topics have included our communities, a particular technology, or time spent in nature. This alone keeps the energy high as it has been scientifically proven that being grateful is the key to a happy existence.”

Why we like it:

Focusing on the negative is an easy trap that anyone can fall into. Expressing gratitude helps put our daily challenges into perspective, and aids in emotions like empathy, which is essential for communication.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a weekly all-hands meeting, either at the beginning or end of the week.

2. Choose a theme and have team members share something in their lives for which they are grateful. It can be work-related or personal.

4. Fail of the Week

You’d think that something called the “Fail of the Week” would be the perfect way to decrease morale, but Los Angeles-based mobile gaming studio Scopely has proved that the opposite is true.

As former GM Jason Weiss told the Awesome Office Show, during Scopely’s weekly all-hands meetings, team members share their biggest failure that week and what they learned from it.

The point isn’t to call out mistakes, but to acknowledge that failure is part of the process and to share the lessons learned.

“If you’re asking people to work extremely hard, and aim high, and be ambitious, they’re going to fail [at times],” Weiss explains. “So we need to acknowledge that it’s ok to fail, or people are going to stop aiming high.”

The light-hearted tone of the fail of the week puts people at ease, makes risk taking easier, and actually improves morale.

Why we like it:

A healthy relationship with failure should be a part of your culture, particularly at growth-oriented startups, where big risks are critical to success. This practice communicates that it’s ok to fail, and emphasizes growth and learning.

2. Make sure to emphasize lessons learned, and what the individual is doing to prevent the same problems from happening in the future.

3. Make it fun! Brand it with a catchy name and create an award for the biggest fail.

5. Provide healthy food options

Some things in life are just indisputable. Like gravity, inertia, and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, the healthy foods to morale correlation is one of those immutable laws of nature.

In all seriousness, healthy office snacks and meals provide a morale-boosting perk that will raise spirits and productivity.

Mood and cognition are affected by our nutrition, so providing healthy options is not just a great way to demonstrate that your employees are cared for and appreciated, but provide them with the fuel they need to work at peak performance.

6. Thirsty Thursday

Ah, the good old fashioned happy hour. Is there anything that brings employees together better than good conversation and a few adult beverages?

But don’t make it an escape from work – and definitely don’t settle for jalapeno poppers and a blooming onion over at TGI Fridays. Create an interactive libation experience in the workplace

Sam Whiteside of The Motley Fool describes their take on the traditional happy hour:

“Every Thursday starting at 4 p.m. and running until around 6 p.m. a different team from around The Fool hosts Thirsty Thursday in our game room! The team gets to select what drinks and food are provided and also get to showcase any projects they are working on. Lots of fun, collaboration, and Foolishness is spurred from these happy hours!”

Here’s the scene from a recent Thirsty Thursday at The Fool:

Why we like this:

Social bonds are a necessary part of creating an engaged culture and high morale org. Nothing achieves this more than the tried and true happy hour.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Set aside a day of the week or month for a company-wide happy hour.

2. Have a different department host the event. Encourage each department to create a theme that reflects the character of that department.

3. Do it on company time and at the office to demonstrate your company’s commitment to fun.

7. Monday Morning Coffee

Garfield was right: Mondays can be tough. Even when you love your job, the weekends never quite seem long enough.

“One thing that we do on our own marketing team is Monday morning coffee. Let’s admit it, we all get the Monday blues. And most of the time, we’re not ready to jump head-on into our work on Monday mornings. So instead, our team visits various coffee shops around the neighborhood (we’re located in Seattle, so there’s no shortage of coffee shops within walking distance) just relax for about half an hour.

Sometimes we talk about work, sometimes we talk about our weekends — our goal is to start off the week on a positive note so we can feel productive for the rest of the day and week.”

Coffee is all it takes for a manager to treat her report to a one-on-one outside the office. It’s probably the most important thing a manager can do.

For one thing, just the act of scheduling these meetings tells employees their manager cares about them enough to spend time regularly chatting. But beyond that, savvy managers have these meetings down to a science. They start by asking the employee for any recent “wins,” rather than jumping right into the minutiae of day-to-day work.

This gives employees permission to think about their effort in terms of achievements, not tasks. That’s the point at which it’s appropriate to move on to asking about frustrations and addressing them head-on. All the while, the manager gathers feedback, takes notes, and does it distraction-free.

One-on-ones that start with positive progress and then address serious blockers help employees cultivate a winning mindset and get accustomed to feeling capable. Making a team member secure and confident is the most powerful morale booster any manager can give.

Why we like it:

Simple, but effective. It gets the team out of the office and immersed in the community, in a relaxed atmosphere.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Research local coffee shops. Half the point is exploring your neighborhood and getting to know the community. Don’t just settle for Starbucks!

2. Set an objective. It can be personal or work-related, but don’t miss out on an opportunity to have a directed conversation.

3. Appoint a note-taker to make sure any action items are recorded so team members can follow up.

8. Nerf Battles

Think Nerf guns are kids stuff? Think they have no place in the office?

“Last week, we held our first ever Nerf Battle Royale. Our employees pooled together their YouEarnedIt points to fund and launch what turned out to be a powerful team-building exercise.

For 30 minutes, the entire office became a battleground where strategy, collaboration, and out-of-the-box thinking meant the difference between life and (virtual) death.”

Why we like it:

It’s not just fun and games. Nothing says teamwork like launching a full scale Nerf invasion. The bonds you create will strengthen your team’s ability to work together and solve problems. Plus, Nerf battles signal to your employees that it’s ok to have fun at the office.

3. Create a trophy for the winning team. You’d be surprised how motivating bragging rights can be.

9. Kick out the Jams

Nothing quite sets the mood like music, making it a fun and easy way to improve morale in any office setting.

What’s more, certain types of music make repetitive tasks more enjoyable, improve focus, and can even make us more creative.

Instrumental music works best, as lyrics have a tendency to distract. Luckily there are great instrumental versions of popular songs available from artists like the Vitamin String Quartet.

Why we like this:

Music not only sets the right mood, but can also help aid focus and productivity.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Subscribe to the SnackNation Ultimate Productivity Playlist on Spotify. This constantly updated playlist contains more than ten hours of instrumental music curated by the music fanatics at SnackNation. Artists include Explosions in the Sky, Classix, Tycho, Deceptikon, El Michels Affair, Menahan Street Band, and a ton more.

2. Press play, bliss out.

10. Connect Employees with On-Demand Services

Inspired by the likes of Uber and Lyft, the on-demand economy is in full swing. Workplaces amenities like massages, haircuts, and car washes are available on-demand in most major cities.

At SnackNation, we utilize the LA and Orange County based car wash service Washos, which provides a quality, on demand car wash at a reasonable price. But since SnackNation just facilitates the service, it’s of no cost to the company, and still provides a morale-boosting amenity that our team appreciates.

Why we like this:

Your employees are always pressed for time. Help them get weekly errands done during the workday by facilitating access to these on-demand services.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Research locally available on-demand services. Massages, haircuts, laundry services, and carwashes are all popular in the on-demand economy.

2. Appoint a team member – either an HR staffer or office manager – to facilitate the service at the office. You can often negotiate a lower price based on a guaranteed number of customers.

11. Get Your Green On

Studies have shown that green space improves mental health. Humans, it turns out, are hard-wired to appreciate natural beauty, and people are happier and less stressed when they have access to parks and open spaces.

Of course, if you work in an urban environment or an area with harsh winters, this access isn’t always easy to come by.

The solution? Bring the green spaces indoors.

Barbara Moy and her team at CaseWare International Inc. out of Toronto, Canada decided to do just that. She and her team provided everyone at the company with a small potted sunflower at their desk.

They found that the experiment brightened the office and lightened people’s moods, helping to offset the dreary Canadian winter. Plus, the mere fact that the plants required daily care reduced absenteeism.

12. Food Trucks

One of the most appreciated on-site perks at Google is their famous cafeteria, which provides gourmet-quality food for their employees. Of course, very few companies can afford to provide an amenity like this.

Food trucks are a great solution because they provide access to new and exciting food options, without the need to build a kitchen or hire a world-class chef.

SnackNation’s Steve Odachowski is a big food truck fan:

“Food trucks are a cool perk. You get to eat something new every day, and it’s not just different food, you know it’s local food. It’s really a taste of what the local food scene has to offer. It’s also something to get excited about every day. One of the happiest emails I read every morning is definitely the food truck email.”

Why we like this:

This is completely cost-free, but you’ll get credit for providing your employees with gourmet quality lunches. Bonus benefit – your employees will waste less time driving to and from local eateries or grocery stores, and thus will be more productive. Score!

Here’s how to do it:

1. Research local food trucks in the area and contact their owners. Let them know that you can supply them with customers.

2. Promote food truck arrivals with a company-wide email.

3. Get in touch with an office manager or HR leader in neighboring businesses to coordinate and share information on food truck arrivals. Once your location has a reputation for providing hungry lunchtime workers, the food trucks will keep coming.

4. Bon appetit.

13. Personal Development

Ever heard the phrase, “Dead-end job?”

It’s very common for morale to suffer when employees feel like there’s no room for growth.

To ensure this isn’t the case, be proactive about growth and development.

Personal development is huge here at SnackNation. We hold weekly personal development meetings (Sensei Sessions), during which senior leadership or regular team members present on personal development topics.

We also recently launched Individual Development Plans (IDP). These plans ensure that team members are setting personal and professional goals and making steady progress. If you want to download a template of our IDP, click here.

The result is a feeling that we’re all getting better, both as individuals and as a company.

Why we like this:

The success of your business depends on the quality of your people. Why wouldn’t you assist your employees grow and get better?

Here’s how to do it:

1. Have employees fill out Individual Development Plans, which layout a framework for personal and professional goals.

2. Plan monthly meetings with managers to track against goals.

14. Form a Book Club

A company sponsored book club solves a problem that tons of employees face, but few employers take the initiative to address:

Most people want to read more, but simply don’t have the time.

Gallup recently found that Americans with full-time jobs work an average of 47 hours per week, or the equivalent of 6 full work days. Nearly 40% logged more than 50 hours per week. With family obligations presumably taking up most of our free time, this leaves precious little room for personally-enriching activities like reading.

The scope of your book club can vary. A book club that focuses on the Harry Potter series is perfectly ok, but for double the value, throw in some business or self improvement titles as well. Your company as a whole will likely benefit from new ideas and more focused workers.

“Every week we hold a 1 hour book club meeting (half the company on Wednesday 10a-11a, half on Thursday 10a-11a). We use this time for discussion on personal development books on subjects like motivation, financial discipline, stress management, interpersonal relationship development. It’s one of the highlights of the team’s week, and one of our primary employee engagement drivers.”

Why we like it:

Sure, books are great, but book clubs aren’t all about learning – half the benefit is social. These casual meetings create the bonds and connections between individuals that help improve day-to-day morale.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Announce the formation of a company book club at an all-hands meeting or company-wide email, and ask employees to sign up and join.

2. Crowdsource book ideas to ensure that employees are engaged with the material.

3. Pick one person to present each week. Make sure the leader has some talking points to get the discussion started.

4. Assign snack (or wine!) duties to individual team members. Half the point is to socialize with colleagues in a casual, low-stress situation.

15. Group Fitness

Group fitness is a great way to kill two birds with one stone – create a bonding experience for your employees while improving the organization’s overall health and fitness.

Exercise, of course, has been shown to improve mood and cognition. Group fitness adds a social element that will help strengthen personal relationships at work.

“Group fitness is great for team building and getting to know people. It’s a relaxed setting that’s still in the office, but apart from the typical day-to-day office grind. Plus having the company arrange group fitness activities shows that they care about our personal wellbeing, not just what we can contribute to the company. Plus it’s a fun way to let off some steam!”

Why we like this:

There is virtually no downside to group fitness. It’s a great bonding opportunity, increases mood, and the health benefits will result in higher productivity in the long run.

Here’s how to do it:

1. You don’t have to hire a fitness coach or build an onsite gym. Start a running group or meet for group workouts, yoga, or meditation at a nearby park.

2. Appoint a fitness leader to keep the enthusiasm going and team members motivated.

3. Be consistent! The more workouts, the more benefits you’ll see.

16. Clothing Swap

Recently, SnackNation Project Manager Hannah Avellaneda wanted to de-clutter her closet. But rather than just throw out or donate her clothing, she felt like she could be doing more.

Noticing that the women in our office had great style, she coordinated with other office fashionistas, and the SnackNation Clothing Swap was born.

It worked like this: the group all gathered their excess clothes, laid them out in the company warehouse, and traded with each other. The remaining clothes were then donated to a survivor of domestic violence through an organization called Becky’s Fund.

Hannah explains:

“The clothing swap was a lot of fun and a great ice breaker for a lot of the new employees. It also gave us a good sense of accomplishment and purpose. We are able to give back both internally and to the external community. We all got to de-clutter a little bit, and were super appreciative that our hand-me-downs were put to good use.”

Why we like it:

Not only did the clothes go to a good cause, but the swap became a great conversation starter, and the basis for several close friendships in the office.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Set a date for a clothing swap.

2. Have team members clean out their closets and gather excess clothes.

3. Find a space to layout clothes and trade items.

4. Find a suitable charity to donate to.

17. Volunteer Days

Like expressing gratitude, volunteering takes you out of the myopia of your day-to-day work and provides a broader perspective. They’re a great way to get out of the office, relieve some stress, and do some good – something that will always improve morale.

SnackNation’s resident volunteer coordinator Elisa Silvestro had this to say about the impact of volunteering:

“Company-sponsored volunteer days are great for morale. For starters, they show that your company is invested in you becoming a well-rounded person who is involved in the community, not just an employee.”

The SnackNation team helping out at Feeding America HQ in Los Angeles, CA

“Volunteering is an awesome way to boost morale and give back to your neighborhood community. We recently volunteered with San Francisco’s Project Homeless Connect to help share aid to the homeless community in our immediate SoMa neighborhood which was a really cool way to get out of the office routine and build more understanding and appreciation for your local community.”

Why we like this:

Besides the bonding benefits, nothing boosts mood and morale in an office than helping others.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Find a local charitable organization that aligns with your company’s mission. At SnackNation, we’re all about health and nutrition, so we chose Feeding America, which helps fight food insecurity for millions of Americans.

2. Arrange a volunteer day during a Friday workday.

3. Make it voluntary – you’ll still get a massive turnout, and it will be more meaningful when people chose to donate their time.

LEAVE US SOME LOVE!

106 Comments

I love the nerf battles! We are going to be ramping up to do this in our office 🙂 So many great ideas here! We volunteer quite often as a team but are always looking for new ways to get involved with the community.

I love the idea of the company bringing green into the office with plants, instead of employees having to purchase plants. It’s a great idea.
The book club is also a wonderful idea (I like it that MyEmployees doesn’t have it cut into employees lunch breaks). If the books are too “business”-minded, I’d love to do this.
No doubt healthy snacks give double the satisfaction for employees: free food that’s tasty, and it’s also healthy, won’t make employees tired (from too much sugar).

I really enjoyed this article! These are some great tips to keeping the work place fun and exciting! I really liked the idea of doing a “fail of the week”. Often times people beat themselves up over a mistake. The thing is we are all human and we all make mistakes. So instead of feeling embarrassed or ashamed why not face it head on and learn something from it. I think I will suggest that we do this in our office!

In my opinion, #3 Express Gratitude has the biggest affect on an individual and workplace. This is the simplest task that often gets overlooked because of the lack of degree of difficulty. By doing so, people feel wanted and acknowledged for their work.

Lots of great ideas here. Our office is very small (7 people) and all accountant types… pretty straight laced… slowly trying to break down the barriers with trivia quizzes at our monthly meetings and making the kitchen more of a gathering place with our Snack Nation Box!

I wish we could do a clothing swap — sadly I work in a male-dominant company with not much interest in clothes.

However, we definitely excel in the happy hour category. We have a Friday Beer Cart which people are always ecstatic about. Even though there is always free beer available in our fridge, the guys go wild for having it brought by their desk!

We’re actually doing another clothing swap with male employees soon. If clothes aren’t your thing, maybe there’s something else you can swap? Old sporting equipment (golf clubs, surfboards, skis), or old computers. You can donate the leftovers to a local school.

If there isn’t the equivalent of Squeegy in your city yet, you can also partner with local businesses to have them come in for services like carwashes, laundry, or haircuts. It’s great exposure to new potential clients, so it/s usually a win-win!

Love the Nerf war idea! I work in a very creative environment so I know we’d get some crazy, fun ideas for this! I live in Austin, TX and our city’s motto is “Keep Austin Weird” so the 1st Morale Booster is pretty easy to come by in our office. Just yesterday, we had a “mohawk off” – people styled their hair in mohawk fashions and we all had a ball…laughing and watching this weird fashion show.

A Post It War will be going down soon in our office. We’re currently making internal department moves and we’d had 10 new hires the last two months so this will be the perfect (and inexpensive) team building activity. We have windows that back up to the Atlanta Beltline so local bikers, walkers, runners will have something fun to look at as well.

We actually do a lot of these in our office – I personally have a mini Nerf gun at my desk. 🙂 I LOVE the coffee idea in Seattle. Here in San Francisco, we’ve got a lot of local coffee vendors so this would be really fun to try!

I would absolutely LOVE to bring some of these activities into my offices! We have so many good corners and pillars to hide behind, that a nerf gun war would be incredibly epic. Also, I can see a happy hour mixed with post it art being not only fun, but ending in some hilarious creations.

We are about to move into a hip, new office space so I am excited to implement many of these ideas. Nerf Battles are definitely happening! I love the idea of holding a photo contest. We’re moving October 1 so I think I might hold a 3 month photo contest starting now. The winners will be revealed upon move in when the photographers see their pictures up on the walls of our brand new space!

Thanks Hannah – we agree, it’s a great way to signal that it’s ok to make mistakes here and there. The last thing you want is an organization that never takes risks because they’re too afraid of being wrong.

#3 is great. I love it because it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make someone’s day or even week just by giving them the credit they deserve. A lot of people do not feel acknowledged and just something small like that is just amazing.

We currently do activities together outside the office. Such as volleyball and yoga. We have a conference room that is labeled Ping-Pong Conference Room and when not be used for meetings the tournaments begin. But I love the Nerf ideas. I’m sure it is going to be a big hit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this article – you provided excellent examples and practical ideas that can be tailored to any company. Employee morale has always been a high priority for me in my various roles and this article gave me some excellent suggestions. Thanks!

We recently bought four Sonos speakers and have a collaborative Spotify playlist. As a young group, it’s fun to hear what other people like to listen to, and keeps the energy up while making cold calls during the dog days of summer where voicemails reign supreme. Although as a predominately “older” environment we had to make a few rules, but overall it seems to be working well.

Great ideas! I’d love to try the planter idea. For the holiday season, my team does a volunteer day and then ends with a movie and happy hour. Recently, we visited a puzzle room where we split up into teams to compete to see who could make it out of the room fastest. It was a fun way to foster some healthy competition and build teamwork.

The plant idea is fantastic! I will definitely be doing this as we approach the colder months. I think it might be fun to provide supplies for decorating the pots too. And the idea of making it into a green thumb contest is even better.

The clothing swap sounds like a great idea! Definitely going to implement that this month at my office. Although, I’m not sure how many people in my office in India will buy this idea!. Nevertheless, just discovered this blog while surfing the web and I must say, the content is quite brilliant.

Can you post something about healthy snack options that are available in Asia/India :)?

Morale boosters are totally worth it. I’ve seen such a difference in the employees when the bosses show them that they care and want to do something to give back for everything we do. We haven’t done anything nearly as cool as the ideas listed here, but I really want to try the Post-It Note Wars. Thanks for the great ideas!

These are great ideas! I especially like the ‘Get Weird’ and we do something that falls into that category in our office: to encourage mundane meetings to go as quickly as possible, we often conduct them while standing. If it goes long enough that someone sits down, the host knows they’ve likely gone a bit long, and we all toss Nerf footballs at him/her to move things along. 🙂 The other idea that I love is the Monday Morning Coffee – our small team would really benefit from that, and I can’t wait to suggest it!

I’m in the process of developing some team-club’s at the office, and this is great inspiration! Thinking that a yoga club and art club are much needed around here (let’s face it- I’m looking for an excuse to do post-its art) 😉

So many great ideas here. I love the nerf battles Idea – I wish our office space was large enough for an event like that! I am working now to pull some volunteer opportunities together. I think that is great way to do some team building as well as get the company out into the community.

These are all great ideas. Some familiar, others more unique. Personally love the Monday Morning Coffee w/ your boss. The one-on-one time is nice and it helps to build relationship w/ your boss, giving you the opportunity to talk about anything you want…whether work related or not. Great to get out of the office to before you get into your weekly grind.

I love all of these ideas! My company does “Beer Fridays” it’s a social gathering where we all drink and eat awesome snacks! Every couple of week I choose a team to throw their own themed part. They love getting creative, and being able to choose what they do.

We do several of these already, and our employees love them. After I read this blog the first time, we tried out a few more. We’ve done a clothes swap, had a food truck come out to the office, and next month we are doing some volunteering together. The food truck (which didn’t cost the company any money) was a huge hit! Everyone loved the convenience of it and that it was something different from the norm. They also appreciated the company arranging it for them, and many have asked for us to do it again.

I’m on our strengthening staff committee. We have implemented several things. We have an egg hunt every year just before our Easter monthly meeting. We have Secret Summer Santa where we draw names in June and for 2 months we secretly put thoughtful things on each other’s desk without getting caught. We get pretty creative. It’s awesome! We also have an owl garden statue that we have every month at our meeting that we named Owlbert. We draw a name and celebrate that person’s awesomeness but clipping paper feathers all over it with positive things our coworkers think about them. The get to have Owlbert on their desk all month.

About SnackNation

SnackNation is a healthy office snack delivery service that makes healthy snacking fun, life more productive, and workplaces awesome. We provide a monthly, curated selection of healthy snacks from the hottest, most innovative natural food brands in the industry, giving our members a hassle-free experience and delivering joy to their offices.